The Question

Ever since man chose the horse or the dog as his helpers a few hundred centuries ago, he has been fretting over a baffling conundrum. Do these animal companions of ours think for themselves or are they dumb brutes who follow only instincts or orders?

A Dog is like a Person

Your pet faces the same up and downs as you do no wonder we get along so well

A cat is cat a dog is a dog but my pet is a person. For many people the person they are closes to is their pet. That is because they find it easier to give attention to their animals rather to other members of their family. But why not - dogs have the same qualities and emotions as humans do. They are capable of love jealousy vanity grief modesty and loyalty. They live up and down to what their owners expect of them. As members of the family they learn vocabularies and establish set routines. For example the dog runs to the door the minute she hears the garage door open. She knows when it is time for the owner to come home from work.

The strong love offered by mans best friend is well known if you own a dog. Throughout history they have saved many lives with thinking the risk to themselves.

Another characteristic shown by dogs is jealousy. When a new baby or even a new pet is brought home, often the older pet will show resentment. Favourite slippers might get chewed or your clean pet might show displeasure messing up the carpet or use other destructive methods to turn attention from the intruder back to himself

Vanity is a human and canine trait obviously to anyone attending a dog show the experience shows dogs love the attention and applause and love the luxury of being petted and fussed over. Even a house pet enjoy the spotlight why else would a dog return a ball time and time again.

From the biggest champion to the ordinary mutt dogs love to be admired for their beauty and cleverness. And like man they are capable of modesty. A show poodle that for the first time is sheared down to its bear skin shows symptoms of modesty.

Loyalty and grief are two qualities where dog is like man. The story of Greyfriars Bobby is a good example. Bobby was a little terrier to a Scottish farmed named Gray. On market day Gray and Bobby would travel to Edinburgh and according to routine would visit a small pub near Grey Friars Cemetery at noon for lunch which Gray would share with his little dog. The pair was inseparable till Gray’s death in 1959 when he was buried in Greyfriars Cemetery.

Bobby hung around the city gates till a sympathetic ground keeper let him in to lie on his master’s grave. Soldiers at Edinburgh Castle Gate trained him to go for a meal every day when they fired the one o clock gun, so Bobby would get up and trot down to the pub where the owner would feed him and he return to his master’s grave.

For the rest of his life his habits remained the same. And as dogs were not allowed to run the streets without a collar and license the Mayor presented Bobby with a collar and tag to guarantee the terrier would never be taken when guarding his master’s grave.

When Bobby died after 1O years of grief and loyalty a statue was erected to his memory a Tribute to the Affectionate Fidelity of Greyfriars Bobby